How to Properly Install Garden Bed Edging: Step-by-Step Instructions
Garden bed edging is one of the easiest ways to quickly improve the look of your backyard. It keeps lawns, flowerbeds, paths, and patios looking neat. Most importantly, edging keeps your soil and mulch in and grass out, prevents roots from creeping into beds, and gives your landscape a polished, professional look.
Whether you’re using metal garden edging, flexible steel garden edging, or other garden border stones and edging, installation is the secret. Properly done, garden bed edging is a simple task to accomplish, and once in place is a long-term service to you, preventing the intrusion of things you don’t want in your garden. In this step-by-step guide, we show you how to install attractive edging that works well and looks even better.
Picking the Perfect Garden Bed Edging
Before you begin, you should know how to pick the right material for your garden. Steel garden edging is a popular option because it is durable, sleek, and versatile. Unlike wood or plastic, steel won’t rot, warp or become brittle. Steel garden edge is also flexible enough to make aggressive curves as well as designs with straight lines, and it’s the perfect flower bed border and tree ring edging product.
Metal landscape edging is also suited to defining a line of walkway paving, to contain loose gravel, or to form a line around planting, like a border around a larger shrub or tree. Choosing good-quality edging materials will ensure an overall better finish, and less replacement is required.
Preparing the Ground
The initial part of the garden bed edging installation is getting the site ready. Begin by drawing the line that the edging will follow. This might be along the lines of the natural lines of your garden beds, or have a new outline for a cleaner look. In response to the shape which YOU have in mind, you may use a garden hose or string line to help achieve the desired design.
Once your line is marked, dig a shallow trench along the edge of the garden bed. The trench needs to be deep enough to hold the edging in its place, which typically is one-third of the edging height. Clear all roots, rocks and debris that may interfere with installation. This early work will enable the edging to rest consistently and firmly.
Installing the Garden Bed Edging
Once the trench is prepared, you can start installing the edging. If using flexible steel garden edging material, simply flex it to go around a curve or bend. Arrange the edging to leave a small amount of the edging above the soil line to create a sharp border between the path material and the surrounding sod and garden beds.
Anchor the edging by simply hammering in the connecting stakes (included in each pack) or by using the optional corner couplers or connectors available. These fixings keep the edging in place and stop it from moving when soil is replaced or mulch is put back. For longer lengths, make sure sections lap/connect properly so that you create a continuous barrier.
When you install garden tree ring edging, it’s the same process, but the stakes and boards are smaller in scale. Mould the edging into a tidy circle, hence around the tree trunk, ensuring there is sufficient room for growth, and bedding down solidly in soil. This enhances the overall look and guards against any damage to the base of the tree by the mower.
Backfilling and Finishing Touches
After the edging is in place, backfill both sides of the trench with soil or mulch to keep it in place. Tamp the soil firmly so it’s solid; there should be no air spaces that could cause the edging to move over time. Once it is backfilled, take a step back and look at the edging from several different angles. If you need to, make minor adjustments so that it travels evenly and without issue.
Now, your garden bed edging should already begin to make your garden look better. Fresh mulch or decorative stones can also serve to emphasise the sharp edges of your borders and give projects a crisp, professional appearance.
Advantages of Installing Garden Bed Edging. There are certainly a number of good reasons to install edging around your raised garden beds. Here are just a few: Aesthetics – Raised beds just look better when properly edged, trust us!
Properly installing edging will do more than improve the overall appearance. A defined edge prevents the invasion of lawns and weeds into garden beds. It minimises maintenance by keeping soil and mulch out of walkways. Flexible steel garden edging also gives lasting durability, so you can look forward to your neat borders not getting damaged and having to be redone.
The edges of flower bed borders pop with sass if you cut them into a slick, defined edge. Professional-looking tree rings that protect sensitive roots. Metal landscape edging gives a commercial edging look, and also provides the beauty of a green scape with the durability of the metal. In the end, how you install your edging determines if it will function as a design element or it serve a function.
Long Term Care and Maintenance
The best thing about steel garden edging is that it will require a minimal amount of maintenance. Timber can rot and plastic will crumble, but steel is built to endure the elements for generations. From time to time, check to make sure the edging is still secure in the ground, particularly after heavy rain. Add more soil or mulch if necessary to maintain the crisp edge line. Your garden beds will look great with very little effort, season after season.
Conclusion
Garden bed edging is not just a final touch. It is a functional answer to gardening woes and makes gardening easier and more attractive. Make very long-lasting garden bed borders, pathways, and tree rings with steel garden edging like galvanised sheets of steel or flexible steel garden edging and with proper installation methods. With proper preparation, positioning and fixing, edging is simple to install and provides a professional finish every time.
Whether you are updating or creating a new garden, quality garden bed edging will do wonders for your garden by providing a creative design and an organised garden.